1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector with a function of detecting the upside-down insertion of a terminal fitting.
2. Description of the Related Art
A known connector has a housing formed with cavities and terminal fittings that are inserted in the cavities. Locks are provided along the upper or bottom wall of the cavities to lock the terminal fittings. The terminal fitting is formed with an upside-down insertion preventing projection and the cavity is provided with an escaping groove for receiving the upside-down insertion preventing projection when the terminal fitting is inserted in a proper orientation. The cavity also has a receiving portion for contacting the upside-down insertion preventing portion to prevent further insertion of the terminal fitting when the terminal fitting is upside down. A connector of this general type is disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-190228.
The terminal fitting of the above-described connector slides in contact with the lock and resiliently deforms the lock in the process of inserting the terminal fitting. Frictional resistance resulting from the sliding contact serves as insertion resistance. Thus, it is desirable to provide the lock as close to the front end of the cavity as possible to shorten a sliding-contact stroke between the lock and the terminal fitting.
On the other hand, the upside-down insertion-preventing portion should be at the front end of the terminal fitting so that an upside-down insertion is detected at an earliest stage of the terminal fitting inserting process.
Both the lock and the upside-down insertion preventing portion should be near the front ends of the cavity and the terminal fitting to reduce insertion resistance and achieve early detection of the upside-down insertion. Thus, the upside-down insertion preventing portion and the lock are provided on opposite sides of the terminal fitting to avoid interference of the lock and the upside-down insertion-preventing portion.
Locks can be provided at substantially at the same heights as partition walls between the cavities and can form parts of the partition walls to reduce the height of a connector that has vertically arranged cavities. In this situation, the upside-down insertion-preventing portions are in deformation permitting spaces for the locks of the cavities located right above or below. Thus, there is a possibility that the lock interferes with the upside-down insertion-preventing portion when the lock is deformed resiliently.
The present invention was developed in view of the above problem, and an object thereof is to improve the operability of a connector.
The invention relates to a connector comprising a housing formed with cavities for receiving terminal fittings. Locks are provided in the cavities for engaging and locking the terminal fittings. Some locks form at least parts of partition walls between adjacent cavities.
Each terminal fitting may have an upside-down insertion-preventing portion. The upside-down insertion-preventing portions may be disposed so as not to interfere with the locks along an inserting direction of the terminal fittings.
The upside-down insertion-preventing portions and locks are near the front ends of the corresponding terminal fittings and cavities. Accordingly, there is a low insertion resistance and an early detection of upside-down insertion. Additionally, the upside-down insertion-preventing portions and the locks preferably are on the opposite sides, and do not interfere with locks of adjacent cavities.
Each cavity preferably has a receiving portion for contacting the upside-down insertion-preventing portion and preventing further insertion of the terminal fitting when the terminal fitting is inserted upside down.
Each terminal fitting may be a male terminal fitting with a tab projecting forward through an opening in a front wall of the corresponding cavity when the male terminal fitting is inserted properly. The receiving portion preferably is at a position to contact the upside-down insertion-preventing portion before the front end of the tab strikes against the front wall of the cavity.
Each lock that forms part of the partition wall between the cavities may have at least one thin portion formed by partially cutting a surface of the lock substantially opposite from the terminal fitting to be locked by the lock. Each partition wall between the cavities preferably is formed with an excessive deformation-preventing portion facing the thin portion. Thus, excessive deformation of the lock can be prevented while the desired deformation of the lock is permitted. Further, a sufficient rigidity is secured for the lock by forming the thin portion only across part of the width of the lock.
Each cavity preferably comprises a receiving surface arranged substantially normal to an inserting direction of the terminal fitting into the cavity. Thus, a portion of the terminal fitting engages the receiving surface of the cavity and is prevented from moving beyond the proper insertion position.
The lock preferably is wider than the terminal fitting, and the thin portion preferably projects laterally beyond the terminal fitting.
A retainer preferably is insertable along the inserting direction, to doubly lock the terminal fittings in the cavities.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon reading of the following detailed description of preferred embodiments and accompanying drawings. It should be understood that even though embodiments are separately described, single features thereof may be combined to additional embodiments.